Infloation valve



March 1929. E. L. LARSON ET AL INFLATION VALVE Filed May 25, 1925 awaw-'Patented Mar. 26, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

INFLATION VALVE.

Application filed May 25, 1925. Serial No. 32,683.

This invention relates to inflation valves and automobile tires.

Objects of this invention are to provide an inflation valvewhich willindicate the pressure ofair within the tire, and which, althoughequipped with the air pressure indieating means is nevertheless ofstandard length and standard diameter as compared with the ordinarynipples ordinarily supplied by automobile dealers.

Further objects are to provide a pressure indicating inflation valvewhich uses the standard equipment of filling valve, cap and similarparts. 1 1 Further objects are to provide a pressure indicatinainflation valve which isso constructed that the main body of the nippleis open throughoutiand devoid of sections of diii'er-ent bore, and inwhich the extensible scale bearing member may he slipped infrom one endof the nipple and may be most readily secured in place by a simpleprocess. This, it will be appreciated, greatlyexpcdites and simplifiesthemanufacture of pressure indieating-inflation valves and materiallyreduces the cost thereof.

The invention pertains specifically to an air inflation nipple or airinflation stem, commonly known as valve stem, in combination with an airpressure gauge to be rigidly fastened to the air container of apneumatictire.

The object of this invention is to combine the functions of a standardinflation and valve stem with'the functions of a pressure gauge.

tinct and separate services, that of'conducting and retaining the airand that of indicating the pressure of the air with thecontainer'.

Further objects of this invention are to restrict and confine thestructures 'of this duced in diameter to form the receiving This unitfastened air tight to the air contamer of a pneumatic tire performs twothe nipple which is rigid and an integral part of the stem. Separatingand placing this receiving nipple slidably into the stem made thepresent invention possible. 7 i An embodiment of the invention shown inthe accompanying drawings,in whichz Figure 1 is a vertical sectionalview through the valve, such view corresponding to a section on the llne1 1 of Figure 2.

, FigureQ is a side elevation thereof taken at right angles to Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 1.- i a Figure 4:is an enlarged detail of the lower sleeve which passes over the rubbertube.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of a trans parent dust cap.

The valve comprises a nipple 1 of standard length and dimensions whichis preferably provided with flat faces 2 on opposite sides,

as shown in' Figure 2. This nipple is provided withan integral bottomflange 3 which may be provided, if desired, with a V-shaped groove lcutinwardly, as indicated in Figure 1. This nipple is of the same diameterthroughout and is provided at its upper end with a pair of slits 5 onopposite sides to define tongues 6 hereinafter described in greaterdetail.

The movable portion of the valve consists of a rubber tube 7 whose lowerend is slipped over the upwardly extending apertured projectionS of theclosing washer 9. This lower end of the tube is surrounded by means of asleeve 10, as shown in greatest detail in "Figure 4. 1

This sleeve is provided with an outwardly extending bottom flange 11over which the lower end of the rubber tube 7 is folded,v as shown inthe bottom portion of Figure 4:.

The washer 9 is preferably spherical in shape and has its ends slippedinto the groove 1. The washer is subsequently partially fiattened toforce these ends into binding engagement with the slanting faces of thegroove 4 and thus to compress the parts into the position shown inFigure 1, and forming an air tight seal, it being understood that anextra packing washer 12 of suitable yielding ma-,

'7 t'erial maybe employed to further insure an air tight seal.

the loweri sleeve 10.

slipped over the beaded projection 13 of a slidablejhol'low fillingtubeil l. This end of the rubber tube is held in binding engagementwiththe portion l3 bymeans of the sleeve 15 which is crin pedor pressedaround the rubber 'Theu'pper end of the rubber tube 7 is a tubeand thebeaded "end of the'member 13,

as shown in Figure 1. v

ii teheee -ed t am Fi e l lle spring 116" surrounds the rubber tube 7Its upper end is received by a flange .17 .035 the crimped or'bindingsleeve and its lower end is snmla'rly rece ved by a flange 18 0f roinreierenc eto-Figure4, in illustrating the lower f's l'ee've, it Infillbe seenthat the flanges 17 and 18 are formed like threads and permit thespring 16 to be positioned by twist- 'i'ng it while, inserting it uponthe sleeves, the

flanges, thereafter, 7 rigidly in "position. .f Y Themerhber 14:

retaining the spring is in reality a tube as is evident froma'comparisonof Figures 1 and land is provided with ilatfaees 19 on opposite'sides bycutting awaya portion of the tube body. f This tube 14 loosely fitsWithin the nipple- 1 and is freelyslid able therein. The "tongues 6,previously mentioned and integral with the nipple-1, are pressedinwardly,

-. ;1S"s11'0wn'i11 :FigurefL-to loosely and slidably engage the fiatfaces 19, and to thus prevent liative rotary Inntion'between the fillingtube a nd the nipple 1. I v he lling tr'lbell is apertured throughout ianddsp rfovided Wlbllit shoulder 20 against Y which the spider 21- ofthe'stan dard filling a I valve 22Qm'ayrest, such filling valve havingthe usual tlir'ea'ded upper portion 23 whichis screwed into thecorrespondin ly threaded Yaperture of thefilling; tube, e closure cap'25 is screwe'diupon' the upper end of the filling desi V 1 washer 26."

1 tube 14 when the tube is not used for filling pur p o ses, and suchcap may be of standard gn, being provided with a gasket or {*If desired,a transparent dust'cap may be provided'fo'r the device or any usual typeof {dust cap'meinberemployed. The transparent dust cap is illustrated inFigure 5 and is pro-. yided with a base portion 2'1 equipped withabottOm'fWasher 28 and apert-ured and threaded, asindicated at 29, sothat it may gbescrewed upon-thethreaded nipple l'inthe usu'al manner,This bottom portion carries a j glass she'll 3Q whose upper end isreceived in f member 'being provided 'With' a semispherical to innerportion32, whereby the inner and outer ajsuitable flanged top memberBl,such top we faces of the glass cylindermay beengaged.

I v V The top member 31 is provided with-a plu- 'rality of downwardlyextending spaced arms positioned outside of the-glass shell and joinedto threaded sleeve 34' adapted to be action ,of the spring 16 andconsequently sliding the filling tube 14 upwardly.

It is-to be noted from Figure 2 that the flat faces 19 are provided withgraduations to indicate pressure. The pressure, therefore, may be readby reading the last er; osed 'graduations as the member 14 is pro ectedupwardly above the tops of the lips 6.

The simplicity of manufacturing the device isto be particularly notedfor in forming the device the filling tube 14 with the rubber tube 7 andspring 16 and other portions in place, is merely slipped into the nipple1 from its bottom side until the peripheral edges of the washer 9arelocatedin the groove 4 of the bottom flange 3 of the nipple. Thereafter,all'that is necessary toretain this extensible filling tube in place ismerel to either compress the washer 9 to slightly flatten it in order toforce its edges into binding engagement with the groove 4, or else tospin the adjacent portion of the bottom flan e 3 over the washer 9. Inorder to keep e tube 4 from turning with relation to the nipple 1, it ismerely necessary to press the lips or ears 6 inwardly, as shown inFigure 1. Thereafter, the device is complete and is ready for immediateuse. i i

Itwill be seen that the utmost simplicity of manufacture is attainedwith this type of device, and that the nipple employed is of standardlength and diameter.

It is to be noted further that there is no danger of a gradual leakingof the air from the device, as no pistons are employed but merely arubber tube whose ends are closed in the i manner described in detailabove.

It will be seen further that the device has all the appearance of thestandard nipple and does not detract from the appearance of the wheel.upon which it is employed. Further, all of the conveniences incident tovisible pressure indication are attained by this device withoutresorting to any; additional complicated mechanism.

"Although the invention has been described in considerable detail, it isto be understood that the invention may be variously embodied and is,therefore, to be limited only as claimed.

We claim;

An inflation. valve comprising a nipple having a cylindrical openingfrom one end to the other, and, provided. with a flanged base, a fillingtube slidably fitting Within the opening through said nipple, saidfilling tube being cylindrical throughout its major position and havinga flat face intermediate its ends said nipple having a pair of slitsdefining a tongue and said tongue being bent inwardly and slidahlycontacting with the fiat face of said filling tube, and an expansibletube joining the inner end of said filling tube and clamped in the baseof the nipple.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our handsat Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wiseons-in.

ELMER L. LARSON. CHARLES A. BRAUNGER.

